We started this morning by visiting the amazing Tamastslikt Center outside Pendelton (yes, of Pendeleton blanket fame). The museum there explains the history of the Oregon Trail and western expansion as it affected the various indigenous tribes in the area. There were difficult and sad stories, as well as pride and hope for the future of the tribes. It is an important part of American history that everyone should know. We try to analyze the things we learn from the viewpoints of different people at the time. If you were a starving immigrant from Europe looking for a place to start a farm so your family could survive, you would have seen things one way. If your lands were being taken by force, and the newly formed American government kept making promises and treaties that were quickly broken, you would have seen and experienced things very differently. So much of history is just a repeat of things that have happened over and over again.

It was nice to see the many exhibits talking about the hopeful future for the tribes and their plans for positive change. The center was powered by solar and wind and we finally got to stand next to one of the huge wind turbines. There was an excellent video that explained how solar and wind energy works, as well as the challenges and difficulties with utilizing them. The tribes have a project in place where they are installing “elevators” that allow the salmon to migrate across the many dams along the Columbia River. I had no idea that was a problem, or that they were working to solve it. We then enjoyed some salmon ourselves at the museum cafe: smoked salmon nachos and salmon quesadilla. Yum!

I had learned the day before that it is illegal to pump your own gas in Oregon (and New Jersey I was told, although I haven’t verified this). So yea, the gas in Oregon is much more expensive as a result. I asked the person who rushed up to stop me from gassing up why this law existed. He said it was just to create jobs. Ok, I’m 100% for creating jobs, but doesn’t anyone with even a rudimentary sense of economics see why this is a bad idea? Another chance for great discussions with the kids about creating jobs that add value to society and the proper use and purpose of government authority and power. We were all happy that we got to gas up at the tribal station before leaving, giving funds to the local tribes, and paying less at the same time. I’ve never been so happy to pump gas in my life! lol

Our drive towards Boise took us along parts of the original Oregon Trail. We stopped at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, run by the Bureau of Land Management, to see the outdoor exhibits, and then even went off-roading to see some of the old ruts from the Oregon Trail. Very cool!

One of the coolest things we’ve found in Oregon is that all the rest stops have small information centers about the Oregon Trail. We have learned so much from reading the information at these. They often detail the history of the local hills and canyons and interesting historical stories surrounding them.

We finally crossed into Idaho and Boise for the night. We plan on taking tomorrow off as a well-deserved rest day.

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We stayed outside Portland last night and planned to visit during the daylight hours only. I had two goals for our day: (1) to see Powell’s Bookstore, the world’s largest used bookstore and where I purchase waaaaay too many books on a weekly basis, and (2) for us to see the reality of what’s going in Portland vs. media reports. In many ways, things weren’t as bad as I expected, in others, it was much worse. I don’t want to sugarcoat this. It’s bad, the worst homelessness and destruction I’ve ever seen; it looked like a third-world country. Tents and broken-down RVs were everywhere. Several blocks had businesses boarded up, and graffiti coated everything. The kids got to witness their first drug deal right outside the window. I wanted them to learn everything they could about our great country this year: the good and beautiful, as well as the ugly and sad. Today was a lesson none of us will soon forget.

From a cursory drive of about 30 minutes around downtown, it looks like drugs — heroin in particular — is rampant. These do not appear to be people who have lost their homes due to COVID. My prior research about the city suggests that the large homeless population exists here because Portland decided that they didn’t want to force people into shelters due to COIVID, that the risk of catching COVID in a shelter was greater than just letting people live in tent cities downtown. In addition, after 200 days of nightly riots, police no longer felt that they were safe to do their usual duties. Hard to blame them when you see what it looks like. To me, this looked like anarchy, not BLM or political protests. Just people who due to mental illness or drug addiction no longer want to take part in normal society in any way. We saw only one protest sign the entire day. What we saw was just sad. And scary. People everywhere talking to themselves, lying on the sidewalks in broad daylight. We never say one cop or police car the entire time.

After this depressing start to the day, we spent about two hours in Powells. They had security at the doors so we felt safe inside. I had long looked forward to this, but honestly, given what we had just seen, it was hard to get excited. Powells is amazing, and I wish I could have really gotten into my visit, but I just wanted to get out of town as quickly as possible. We bought some good books and had them shipped home. The staff was amazing and I look forward to continuing my weekly orders of used books from them. I won’t ever visit Portland ever again. Hopefully, I will one day get to explore Southern Oregon though as we won’t get there this time and there are many outdoor sights I would love to visit.

We had parked about two blocks away and grabbed slices of pizza on the way back. The people we met seemed nice enough, but seriously, Portland is taking the “Keep it Weird” just too far for my tastes. I love people who are different and unique, but when it slides into a complete lack of hygiene, and where full-face tattoos are the norm, that’s where I have to get off the bus. I can’t imagine trying to run a business of any kind in this town. I just don’t see how a city can bounce back from this self-perpetuating cycle of despair.

We finished the afternoon by visit COSI, the science and industry center. It was almost completely empty, so the kids had the run of the place. It was a nice science center; the physics and chemistry labs were particularly fun and educational. The kids got to do numerous experiments in both labs.

At the end of the day, the kids said they just felt sorry for Portland, and everyone who lives there. I agree. I’m glad we came, and I hope if ever someone offers them drugs, they will remember the poor lost souls they saw roaming the streets of Portland today.

We breathed a sigh of fresh air driving out of Portland. Oregon is beautiful with densely packed evergreen forests leading to a high desert area like we saw in Washington. The drive along the Columbia River is breathtaking; sadly there were no open overlooks for me to take photos so these are all from the moving car. The gorgeous sunset as we drove east was a welcome balm to end an emotionally challenging day. I am glad we came, and I am glad we left.

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Today we reached the end of the Lewis and Clark Trail! We crossed the river into Oregon and had a quick visit to the Lewis and Clark National Historic Park and Fort Clatsup. This is where the Corps spent a winter preparing for their return trip home (just like us!). There was a small but informative museum and film. There was also a neat reproduction fort, but I didn’t get many pictures due to the arrival of a large tour bus. The kids are now quick to announce “run, a tour bus is here!” lol We like our space to explore, so generally find other things to do when we encounter swarms of tour groups. The kids have named these collectives a “Horror of Groupies”. A swarm of RVs on the road we’ve named a “Mosey.”

We continue to be enthralled by the unique trees and plants. The hanging moss looked just like a green version of the Spanish Moss I am used to in the South. The different shades of green are amazing, and the trees are so tall compared to what we have in the East.

We enjoyed a visit to Seaside beach (our official turn-around point!), had an outstanding seafood lunch, and walked along the Pacific beach. How different the beaches look here from those in the East and South. Today was misty and foggy (hello, Pacific Northwest), and it made the shore look so cool. There was even a swingset right on the beach, tailormade for Mer to celebrate the end of the trail. It was Oregon, so of course, there was a Bubble Artist for our viewing pleasure. He was certainly a master of his art.

We finished with a visit to the Seaside Aquarium, the highlight of which was feeding the seals. They were so fun to watch. Each had a different technique for trying to get your attention: some barked, some clapped their hands or clacked their teeth, and some even splashed you! They were adorable critters, full of personality.

Today was another great day, although it had started out a bit rough. We had stopped for the night in Aberdeen, WA, a small fishing village along Gray’s Harbor, and the birthplace of Curt Cobain. We desperately needed to do laundry, so of course, the machines were out of order at the hotel, which I discovered at 8 a.m. I ended up having to lug the laundry back and forth to the local laundromat. It was annoying, but I ended up having a great chat with the owner. This is one of my favorite parts about traveling, getting to learn about the area from locals. It was clear to us on our drive into town that it was a bit down on its luck. The owner filled me in on what was going on. Apparently, surrounding counties give patients from their rehab and mental health facilities $100 in cash and a bus ticket to Aberdeen. You can probably figure out for yourself what the results of those practices are for Aberdeen. I loved hearing from this small business owner about what things have been like for him trying to keep his business up and running. We were saddened to see people of all types clearly suffering, although no one suggested that COVID was the cause of any of this; the problems clearly predate the pandemic. We have, after much research and careful deliberation, decided to do a daytime visit to Portland. I am sure that it will be an eye-opening day for all three of us.

Photography Deets: A few people have asked about my photographs. Yes, I am still just taking these as snaps on my cell phone. It is a great phone camera that I bought just before the trip – the Samsung S21 Ultra. These are on full auto, I’m not doing any manual settings as I would on my pro-level Nikon equipment. I think the cell is doing great across the board including low light and inside museums with no flash. Many of these are taken from inside a moving car (Graham is getting to be a pretty good photog now too.) I am not using a tripod anywhere. Why not bring my amazing equipment? One, size and portability. Two, the chance of damaging the expensive (and now that the business isn’t operating — uninsured) lenses and camera. Three, the ease of uploading automatically to Google Photos. And most importantly, four, the time it takes to get things right on manual mode doesn’t lend itself well to traveling with others. I completely lose myself and all sense of time when shooting. There was no way I could keep my eye on the kids and be quick. It was a hard choice to make; I would have loved my good equipment on parts of this trip, but I need to come back by myself or on a photo tour at a later time to really do that right and enjoy it (ie, once an empty-nester). The photos do now all get a quick run through Lightroom as I have to resize them for the blog. I didn’t do that early on, and the huge file sizes were causing massive headaches. So yes, they do get the normal Lightroom tweaks, but I am not increasing vibrance or saturation (although the camera itself, like all digital cameras not shooting in RAW, will do some of that on its own). Any photogs out there with questions, feel free to email me at [email protected] I would be happy to talk about photography dets and the phone I’m using. Cheers!

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We had an amazing, otherworldly day exploring the Olympic Peninsula. This was on my bucket list of places I really wanted to see, and it exceeded all expectations. The lakes along the peninsula were stunning; the water was the clearest I’ve ever seen.

As we climbed the mountain, we stopped by chance at a waterfall where salmon were running upstream to spawn. What an incredible sight. It was almost impossible to photograph, so I will try to post a video. The salmon basically yeeted themselves 10 feet up a waterfall. Crazy! There were a few other people around and we all just stared slack-jawed in silence. The poor guys didn’t seem to realize there was rock beneath the waterfall though and you often heard a loud SMACK! as they hit it headfirst. Yikes.

We could have turned around then and considered it a great day, but I really wanted us to hike to Sol Duc falls. I wanted to see the rainforest and the falls in person. I didn’t realize exactly how stunning the hike itself would be; I have trouble imagining anything ever topping this. The pictures have not been edited for color — it was actually this vibrant. I’ve never seen anything like this before. The moss and ferns were amazing, and the tall ancient trees magnificent. We didn’t see a lot of wildlife, other than this little Douglas squirrel who seemed oddly fascinated and not scared of us, but that’s probably a good thing since this is a cougar area. I’ve had enough close-encounters with wildlife to last me a while I think.

As a final bonus for the day, we made it to the Pacific Ocean! It was a short hike through the forest to make it down to beach, and we were surrounded by rocks and what I think were lava flows. All very different from anything I’ve ever seen before. Although our true turnaround point will be tomorrow, it still feels like an incredible accomplishment to have made it all the way across the country finally. Yea us!!!

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